A Lighter Shade of Gray
by Dr1ft3r0I
Summary: Renamon was simply out patroling when she met a rather interesting Digimon running away from her. And now Renamon can't stop running into it. What's a girl to do now? Well, Chapter 3 is up this time, so read and review.
1. Chapter 1

A Lighter Shade of Grey

It was a splendid night in Shinjuku; the night was clear and the moon shone bright, the stars as diamonds in the sky. It was on nights like these that Renamon would roam around the city, enjoying the cool evening air.

Tonight however was not one of those nights. Rika had tried, unsuccessfully, to study for a test all night; she had promptly fallen asleep on one of her textbooks, quietly snoring. Renamon quietly chuckled to herself at the memory of seeing her Tamer passed out like she was. But then her thoughts became more serious. Other than her Tamer falling asleep, there had been nothing to keep Renamon's attention. No powerful bio-emergences had occurred in weeks, and Renamon was getting bored with training.

Speaking of which, she felt one occurring right now, and it was powerful. And while she was known to almost never have anything resembling a smile on her face, Renamon couldn't help but grin to herself.

_Finally, a chance to let off some stress_, Renamon thought. She ran to the now visible Digital Field now growing over the park where Guilmon used to live. _Oh well_, she thought, _at least I get more experience_. She was wondering what it was that was coming through when she heard a high pitched scream.

Renamon couldn't help but sigh. _Great, now I have to look after some stupid moron who wanted to get up close to a Digimon battle_. She reached the park, and was about to go leap into the tree line when she saw the field dissipate.

"Huh?" Blurted out Renamon. If anything, Renamon was glad no one was near to hear her say that. But just then, Renamon saw a grey blur in the corner of her vision. Renamon turned and jumped after it. The one thing she noticed right away was that the blur was shaped just like her. Chasing after it, Renamon noted that it was just as fast as she was.

Whatever it was, it must have noticed her because now it was moving erratically, trying to shake her off. Renamon may have known the terrain better, and was more agile than it was, but somehow it was able to escape her notice in the downtown area of Shinjuku.

Panting, Renamon looked up at sky. To her surprise, she saw that it was almost dawn, the sleepy sun starting to peek over the horizon. _Darn, I almost had it. But what was it?_ Renamon sighed. _Rika will be awake soon, and she'll want to know about this new Digimon_. Quickly she bounded off to the Nonaka household, curious to see the look on her Tamer's face when she woke up.

Unknown to Renamon, her target had watched her leave. Sighing, it stepped out into the pre-dawn light. It had the same general build as Renamon, but it was there that the similarities ended. Its fur was grey, with black tips on the winglets, cheek fur, and ear tips. And while Renamon had gauntlets on her arms, it had bandages, mostly frayed. The eyes weren't the cold, icy blue that Renamon had: instead, its eyes were a warm, almost golden yellow.

Lifting its head to the pre-dawn light, it looked over the sleepy Shinjuku skyline. With no one the wiser, the Digimon disappeared into the bustle of the city. Grabbing a trench-coat off the ground, it crouched behind a wall and put it on. And even though the hood that was on the coat was able to cover its head, it kept its head low, just in case.

Walking down the streets, it managed to clear a path in the throngs of people that were going to work. After about an hour of walking aimlessly, the Digimon found itself back in the park from last night. Checking to make sure no one was watching, it leapt into the trees. A few moments later, it popped into a small clearing.

Sighing heavily, it took off the coat and hung it on a nearby tree branch. Looking up at the sky, it lay down on the ground, the morning dew clinging to its fur. Taking a deep breath, it took a small object from one of the coats pockets, and looked at it. For a moment, it looked like the Digimon was going to cry; but just as quickly, its expression hardened into an unreadable puzzle. It put the object back in its coat, and as the drowsy sun rose over Shinjuku, fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at the Nonaka Household…

It was a proven fact that Rika Nonaka, Digimon Tamer, was an ice queen who was rarely fazed by anything. The same thing however, could not be said of the sixteen, almost seventeen year old schoolgirl. Because right now, Rika was visibly panicking at the thought of being late for school; her fellow Tamers would say that this was the beginning of the end of the world. Not that Rika's friends would ever see her in this state.

Renamon could only watch as her Tamer scrambled to simultaneously get dressed, eat breakfast, pack her bag for school, and assemble a new deck for her D-Arc. The yellow kitsune silently chuckled to herself at the spectacle. Her light mood however quickly disappeared. "Rika, there is something I think you should know."

"Renamon, whatever it is, I think it can wait," the red headed teen hurriedly told her partner.

"Rika, an Ultimate level appeared last night in the park," Renamon said, her voice void of any emotion.

Rika stopped in her tracks. "What? Why didn't you wake me up?" the teen practically yelled.

"I was simply patrolling the city when I felt the emergence. But Rika," the fox said, "the Ultimate was destroyed before I reached it. I was about to investigate when something came out and ran off."

Rika looked at Renamon. "I take it you went after it." It wasn't a question.

Renamon nodded, then continued talking. "Yes, but it somehow managed to escape in the downtown area around dawn. And the strangest part Rika," Renamon briefly paused, as if unsure of what to say. "The strangest part was that it looked just like me."

Rika just looked at her partner and shrugged. "Okay, so it was probably another Renamon, big deal. Now Renamon, could you help me get to school on time? I really don't want to be late today," the young woman told the golden kitsune.

Renamon nodded and after taking Rika into her arms, dashed off into the Shinjuku skyline.

_In other news today, the United States Army has decided to attach a small unit of Digital CONtainment soldiers to the forces of the Japanese Defense Force. While Secretary of State John Goodall has not told us where the unit was stationed, he has told us that the unit "has so far had a stellar record in the containment of rogue Digimon with a minimum of collateral damage. It pleases me to no end that this unit will get the opportunity to serve with the elite DCON's in the Japanese Defense Force." _

_Rumiko Nonaka, mother of Digimon Tamer Rika Nonaka has gone missing. It is not known what has happened to her but…_


	2. Chapter 2

Hello Again, Naturally

Renamon glanced down at the people lying about in the park. Rika was still in school, taking a test for who knew what, and that left Renamon with pretty much nothing to do. So, she sat in a tree, meditating, letting her mind flow into emptiness, her thoughts growing still….

"Hi."

Renamon threw a diamond shard at whoever had surprised her, using only her ears to pinpoint where the target was. She heard the shard whistle through the air and hit wood. Now angry, Renamon jumped up into the higher branches of the tree, eyes open for any attack.

Landing on another branch, Renamon looked around for the idiot who disturbed her meditation. She knew it wasn't Impmon, he wasn't _**that**_ stupid anymore to disturb her, and Guilmon now lived in close proximity to his Tamer's home slash bakery.

"Um, I'm still down here."

Renamon looked down and growled. Right there, hanging upside down from a tree limb above the spot the diamond shard hit, was the Digimon from last night. And now that it wasn't moving, Renamon could make out some of the finer details.

Her original assumption on the body shape being similar to her own was correct. But Renamon noticed that the Digimon was most certainly not a variant of her species. For one thing, the muzzle shape was all wrong, too angular. Second thing was that the fur coloration was mostly grey and black, with only the chest being anywhere close to being a shade of white. Where Renamon had gloves that displayed her (usually) calm nature, this Digimon had frayed wrappings coiled around its arms, both ends of the wrap for each unviewable to her.

The last thing she noted was the eyes. Warm gold met icy blue. One set filled with humor, the other, not so full of humor. Oh, and then there was the trench coat that it wore.

All in all, this Digimon didn't seem like a threat to Renamon. "What do you want, rogue? Directions to the nearest portal?" Renamon asked coldly, her gaze now narrowed down into a glare. Before the strange Digimon could even reply, Renamon spoke again. "Now that I think about it, what are you? You're not a Renamon, or any other variant of one. If anything, you just look like a rejected copy of me." At this statement the Digimon's ears tried to fall down to the sides of its head, but due to good ol' gravity, they just hung down limply.

"Do you always insult people when you meet them?" the Digimon asked with a hint of an American Midwest accent. "Because if so, that explains why there aren't any guys chasing you. And for the record, my name is Kane."

Now Renamon raised in eyebrow in confusion. A Digimon with a human name? That was relatively new to her. She had heard of other Tamers, in other countries, that gave their Digimon personal names, but Rika either didn't want to follow the mold, or she may have simply never gotten around to it. Either way, Renamon didn't care; Rika was still her Tamer, no matter what.

"Hell-oo, you still here on Earth?"

Renamon nearly jumped out of her skin and fur in fright as Kane materialized in front of her, waving a paw in front of her face. Renamon was about to retort when someone screamed. The two of them turned their heads just in time to see a little girl disappear as a Digital Field materialized in the park. Both of them catapulted themselves off the tree and into the field.

"Renamon, you get the girl while I deal with whatever it is," Kane ordered.

"How about you get the girl while I deal with the Champion Level that's emerging," Renamon snarled as the two of them practically flew into the field. They landed right next to the girl as the rogue Digimon emerged from the digital mists inside the field. Kane and Renamon were expecting a fairly weak Champion Level Digimon. They did _not_ expect the form of a Beezlemon, holding a massive Gatling gun in one hand, and a rocket launcher that Renamon thought looked familiar.

"Hehehe, fresh prey," it growled, a toothy grin spread across its face. Renamon was about to charge in when she saw a grey blur fly towards the Beezlemon.

"Ha, this'll be easy!" the towering giant of a Digimon yelled as it swung its gun towards Kane. "Blazing Barrage!" Massive quantities of near molten lead flew out of the Gatling gun's barrels, hoping to drink Kane's blood – if the rounds had actually hit the Digimon. Kane dodged and weaved through the blazing storm of metal, managing to get within ten feet of it. The Beezlemon was shocked that anybody could actually avoid the gunfire, and that the Digimon that did was now beating the living pulp out of him.

"Talon Strike!" Kane yelled, the Digimon's claws puncturing the thick leather coat and into the flesh of the towering virus Digimon. The rogue howled in pain as it started to fly backward. Yet Renamon couldn't help but watch in amazement as Kane first off kicked the Beezlemon back into the air, proceeded to bicycle kick it even higher, and finally deliver a devastating axe kick down onto its head.

Kane winked out of existence for a brief second, and reappeared on the ground . The Digimon sprinted to where the Beezlemon would have landed, claws dragging on the ground.

"Seismic Punch!" Kane growled, as it jumped up into the air. Renamon could see the Beezlemon's three eyes widen in fear as Kane's fist rammed itself into the bigger Digimon's chest. The Beezlemon grunted in agony for a final time before bursting into bits of data. Kane landed just as the red and white particles reached the ground, the surrounding Digital Field dissipating.

"Well, I'll be seein' you later Renamon. And kid?" Kane said to the girl. The child nodded. "Stay away from Digital Fields, your parents will extremely happy if you don't." Kane smiled softly as the Digimon bounded off into the treeline.

Renamon huffed in annoyance to herself. If it weren't for the fact she had to escort Rika home in five minutes, then Renamon must definitely have had a "talk" with Kane.

Speaking of whom, the Digimon in question was now suffering from a momentary shiver of fear. Thankfully Kane knew what it meant, and proceeded to run even faster away from the park. All in all, it was a rather normal day for Kane.


	3. Chapter 3

Guitar Picks

Renamon could not believe what was happening. Two weeks had passed by and Rika had gotten the results of her test back. It had been high, high enough to let Rika into any college she wanted, and to celebrate, the teen had decided to do the last thing the fox Digimon would have expected; Rika went shopping.

Just because Renamon was a girl didn't mean she had a clue about shopping; after all, most of her time was spent training, fighting, and meditating in her Tamer's garden. But, duty and loyalty came first to her, so, Renamon was currently walking down the street with Rika, looking for a decent store. Rika was simply in a bubbly mood, which, quite frankly, scared the hell out of Renamon.

"Hey Renamon, what do you think about this store?" asked Rika as she stopped in front of a music shop, a ukulele painted on the front door. Renamon hmmed in thought.

"Rika, I've never been shopping, all I've ever needed I received from you and the world around me," stated the vixen, her senses still alert for danger, even here in Shinjuku's Downtown district. Rika smiled. Not a smirk, not a sneer, not a slight turn of the lip upwards; an actual, full grown smile. The two of them (well, Rika actually) opened the door and walked into the shop.

.\_/.

Kane heard the bell tingle as the door to the shop opened. The Digimon stopped what it was doing, namely, checking the supply of ukuleles in the back and yelled to the door. "Morita-sama, we have guests!"

"Thank you Kane, I'll take it from here," came the old – but still alive and kicking – voice of Takahashi Morita, the owner of the shop. At the age of sixty-four, Morita was old enough to remember the turmoil of world events. But that did nothing to dampen the old man's spirits. Speaking of whom, Morita walked out into the main room in which most of his merchandise – which consisted of ukuleles, guitars, and the occasional violin – was being admired by a pair of customers.

"Welcome to Morita Music, where the sound of the soul yearns to be heard!" proclaimed the senior citizen, throwing his arms wide in greeting. One of the customers turned to speak to him. "How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm curious, do you happen to have any good guitars here?" the customer asked, the voices high pitch indicating that it was a girl, probably mid to late teens. The other customer hadn't said a thing yet.

Morita smiled. "Well young lady, we do have a few Gibsons and Les Pauls in stock, as well as local brands. KANE!" Morita yelled out to the door to the back room.

"Hai, Morita-sama?" came the reply in an American Midwest accent.

"Can you help these two fine young people find the right guitar for them, I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use back there," Morita said, his arthritis flaring in his lower back. Bugger, it sucked getting older.

"Yessir, right away, just let me finish up back here," the voice said.

"Rika, I know that voice," said the other customer finally. Morita noted that while not as high as the other customer, this one was also a woman. After about a minute of waiting, and the utterance of a brief American curse punctuated by the sound of falling boxes, Kane finally got out of the storeroom.

"So what can I help you with-oh, goldfish poo," Kane said as the Digimon saw the last person it expected to see in its boss' store: Renamon.

"_YOU_," Renamon growled angrily, crouching low and baring her claws out, ready to protect her Tamer. Kane freaked out.

"Are you INSANE, trying to ready an attack in the shop? I need this job, thank you very much, and Morita-sama has enough problemswiththeinsurance_!_" Kane yelled, arms waving over the Digimon's head. Morita tilted his head confused.

"My boy, what's wrong?" he asked, not able to tell what was wrong. Kane turned to look at his boss.

"Sir, we have a Renamon charging up an attack, and the new shipment of guitars hasn't been insured. So now, I'm – "

Kane didn't get to finish his rant as Morita waved his hand out in peace. "Now, now Kane, this is a shop of peace and understanding. Now I assume from yours and our guest's outbursts that you all know each other?" Morita inquired, eyes pointed at Kane in that peacemaking look of old wisdom. Kane sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You could say that, Morita-sama," he said uneasily, looking over at the still angry form of a certain vixen. Rika finally snapped out of her trance and whipped out her D-Arc, scanning Kane for any useful information. For Rika, that meant how much damage Renamon would have to do to reduce Kane to bits of data. Strangely enough though, Rika couldn't get anything from the digivice other than what was presumably Kane's species name.

Lycanomon.

Rika briefly wondered what it was that Kane was good at, based on that name. If she remembered correctly, Lycan came from a Greek term meaning wolf, which was quite obvious as Kane look absolutely nothing like Renamon, with the exception of a few body features and the overall shape. Other than that, the only other thing that Rika learned was Kane's power level. And _that_ worried her more than not knowing what Kane could do. Renamon looked over her shoulder at her Tamer.

"Rika, what's wrong?"

"R-Renamon," Rika stuttered, "This guy's a level seventy-_five_. You're almost the same level he is." Needless to say, Renamon glared at Kane, who was now trying to sneak back into the storeroom.

"Kane, you will stay here," Morita stated, his gaze not leaving his two customers. All present could hear Kane curse as he stopped in front of the door. "You still need to help the young lady find a guitar." It was then that Rika and Renamon realized something. Throughout the entire exchange, Mr. Morita hadn't made eye contact with them or Kane. When Mr. Morita looked back at Rika, she saw the milky grey eyes that made no attempt to see the outside world.

Mr. Morita was blind, and in a way, Rika suddenly understood why Kane was in the back. If Mr. Morita couldn't see, then he couldn't run the shop as effectively, if at all. Rika sighed. "Renamon, stand down. He's no threat to us," she ordered her partner. Renamon didn't say anything for a moment as she stood up straight. "Renamon." That wasn't a question at all.

"I understand Rika," Renamon said, looking only at the wolf-like Digimon in front of her who was sweating bullets under his fur. "So, what kind of guitar would you give Rika?" she asked, gauging Kane's reaction. Instead of going ballistic, the Digimon rubbed his chin in thought.

"It depends on how good she is at playing and how often she does it," he said looking up the ceiling. "I get customers in here all the time saying that they want to play a Les Paul and come back a day or two later to return it. They apparently don't understand the concept of you having to practice on a guitar in order to actually play it. And plus, Les Pauls are for freakin' professionals who actually have the money and playing experience to buy one, so that eliminates one brand for her."

Rika spoke up. After all, it was her choice to go into the shop. "I practice about three times a week on my friend's guitar," she said, hoping that the gray Digimon in front of her would give her a nice one and call it a day.

"What kind?"

Rika raised an eyebrow in confusion. Kane groaned as he rubbed his head. "To clarify," he said to the red head, "Does it have a sound hole in it?" Rika nodded. "Okay, so you'll want either an acoustic or an electric acoustic, both of which are considerably cheaper than a straight electric, not to mention lighter. Now, how long do you practice?"

Rika fidgeted in embarrassment. "No more than an hour or two…why?" she asked, looking at the lupine Digimon in the shopkeeper's apron. Kane for his part smiled.

"So I can tell how far apart the strings need to be and what kind of strings. Does your friend's guitar have four or six strings?"

"Six."

"Okay," Kane said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "I know just the guitar for you." He went off into the storeroom to find the perfect guitar for Rika. Said girl was looking at her Digimon in bewilderment; Renamon knew exactly what she was thinking.

_Who the heck is this guy?_

Ten seconds later, Kane came out with a wooden guitar and a nylon case that apparently was carried like a backpack. "This," Kane said as he handed Rika the guitar, "Is a Yamaha C-45M. Three nylon, and three metal strings, already tuned. The strings are spaced wide enough for beginners, and is cheaper than a lot of guitars on the market. The bag I'm throwing because you'll need it. All this for ¥8500."

Rika was surprised. 8500 yen? That was a good price. But Rika felt like Kane was purposefully trying to make her haggle. Well, she could play that game any day. "I'd be more comfortable paying more. After all, a business does need cash to stay afloat, right? So seventeen thousand yen."

Kane smirked. "Too much for a cheap guitar," he said. Mr. Morita's annoyed voice came out from his office.

"Kane, it is _not_ cheap, you young flibbertigibbet!"

Kane smiled at his boss's banter. "Fourteen and a half," he said to Rika. The girl smiled. _Gotcha,_ she thought.

"Deal." Rika stuck out her hand in confirmation. Kane looked over at his boss. Mr. Morita was smiling. The Digimon looked back over to Rika.

"Deal," he echoed, holding out his four fingered paw out. Rika took the paw into her hand and shook it.

.\_/.

Renamon watched as Rika made the transaction with Morita-san. But her mind was on Kane. For some odd reason, the vixen felt a pull towards the Digimon standing next to her. Sure, he seemed friendly enough, but she needed to know about him to say if he was an ally or not.

Almost as if he was reading her thoughts, Kane spoke up softly. "You have any plans this weekend?" he asked nonchalantly. Renamon turned her head and looked as if she had been hit in the head. Did she hear that right? Was Kane asking her on a – what was it that Rika and Takato did? Oh yeah, - _date?_ Apparently, her confusion showed, as Kane quickly added, "It's not a date-date, just a hangout, swap stories kinda night, you know?" That last part was said sheepishly, if the fact that even with fur, it was obvious that Kane was blushing in embarrassment.

"Very well. I'll go, but if anything happens to Rika while I'm gone…." Renamon threatened, her sapphire eyes narrowed to intimidate the wolf next to her. The Lycanomon shrugged.

"You're always welcome to stop it whenever she's in danger, I don't mind actually, I mean, I totally understand," he said as he watched Rika walk over to the furred pair, guitar (safely nestled inside of a gig bag) on her back.

"Ready to go Renamon?" Rika asked, her voice now somewhat back to normal; but it still contained too much cheer for Renamon's comfort. The yellow vixen nodded as she walked out of the store with her Tamer. Mr. Morita walked up to Kane as he grabbed an imported can of Coke.

"So, is she going to be your girlfriend or what?" he asked just as Kane took a swig of the popular soda. The response to that question was soda being sprayed from a certain Digimon's nostrils, and Kane yelling out, "GYAAAAHHHH, MY SHNOZ! IT BURNS, IT BURNS!"

.\_/.

**Character Bio**

**Name: Kane**

**Species: Lycanomon**

**Gender: Male**

**Height: 5' 11 2/3" **

**Weight: 155 lbs., 70.5 Kilos**

**Type: Virus, Beast Warrior **

**File Size: 1.9 MB**

**Bio: Unknown at this time. Kane is observed to be a relatively happy go lucky Digimon who when forced to attack, can be a deadly foe. Works at Morita Music as a shopkeeper's assistant to Takahashi Morita. Easily identified by American Midwest accent. **

**Level: Rookie [presumed Champion or Mega]**

**Attacks: Seismic Punch, Talon Strike, mixed martial arts, teleportation. Other abilities not known at this time. Surprisingly agile. **


End file.
